When a person wears a proper fitting shoe, there is typically a minimal gap between an inner surface of the shoe and the surface of the person's foot inserted in the shoe. If there is no ventilation inside the shoe and when ambient temperature is high, or when the person performs physical activities, for example, working, walking, running, exercising, etc., the air around the person's foot in the shoe becomes warm and quickly fills with water vapor which creates an uncomfortable environment at the person's foot inside the shoe. A closed shoe has minimal air exchange or ventilation at the front end of the shoe. Therefore, there is a need for removal of air from the shoe, especially from the front end and other parts of the shoe to improve comfort, hygiene, and foot adhesion inside the shoe.
Conventional methods for ventilating shoes typically provide ventilation holes on the shoe surface, or an arrangement of pistons to eject air out of the shoe. However, these methods actively function only when a person walks while wearing the shoe. Moreover, adding ventilation holes in the shoe changes the shoe design, which may not be aesthetically appealing, Furthermore, ventilating shoes by using pistons requires incorporation of bulky and ineffective additional parts into the shoe design.
Hence, there is a long felt but unresolved need for a method and an apparatus for ventilating footwear, for example, shoes, at different times, for example, during rest, during movement, during any physical activity, during high temperature situations, while staying in a hot air environment, or at selected times.